


Changes

by Phantom



Category: Castle
Genre: Bittersweet, Family, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-12-21
Updated: 2009-12-21
Packaged: 2017-10-04 20:07:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,144
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/33636
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Phantom/pseuds/Phantom
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Alexis feels vaguely out of place after her first semester in college. Martha bakes cookies.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Changes

**Author's Note:**

  * For [lunarknightz](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lunarknightz/gifts).



"Kiddo!"

"Hey, Grams." Alexis waved at her grandmother. With her free hand, she readjusted the strap on her shoulder; this one really was too long, and her violin had been bouncing against her thigh for the last ten minutes. "Where's everyone else?"

"Out." Martha waved one hand as she emerged from behind the kitchen counter. Around her waist was a brightly colored apron, dusted with flour. "How was your lesson?"

"It wasn't really a lesson..." Alexis blinked. "Grams, what are you doing?"

Martha paused in a way that Alexis suspected was intended to be dramatic. "I'm making cookies!"

Cookies? She hesitated just long enough that her grandmother slid an arm through hers and tugged her toward the kitchen. "You can help me finish before your father gets back."

"But you... don't know how to bake," Alexis protested gently.

As she was steered across the apartment, Alexis wracked her mind to remember just one time her grandmother had ever made cookies. Her father did a decent amount of cooking for someone who could afford not to. Alexis had always helped out, and together, they were quite the masters at chocolate chip cookie dough and brownie batter (her father was adamant that both were far, far better before baking, and she was inclined to agree). But Grams? To say that the kitchen wasn't exactly her area of expertise was putting it mildly.

"Of course I do." Martha gestured with one hand at the cluttered kitchen counters. Her other arm remained firmly entwined with Alexis's. "It was Chet's idea."

Alexis blinked. "What was Chet's idea?"

"The baking, what else?" Martha released Alexis in order to smooth down her apron. "We thought it would be nice to do something together, and when he mentioned that he'd always wished he'd learned, it turned out that your father knows someone who teaches classes on Saturday mornings."

Alexis smiled. "What this time? Frustrated chef roasts his rival?"

"He's done that already." Martha grimaced as she slid her hands into oven mitts that matched the bright floral pattern of her apron. "No, I think this one was... the body is baked into pies. Your father didn't tell you?"

Alexis felt her smile fade some. "He must have forgotten."

"Hard to believe, the way he goes on about it." Her back to Alexis, Martha snorted. "You'd think he'd never written a book before, he's so--hmm."

"Hmm?" she repeated, but whatever problem Grams had run to paled in comparison to her own.

It was her worst fear, and it was coming true.

They'd said it wouldn't happen. They'd promised that it wouldn't. It had always been the two of them, just Alexis and her dad, and that was never supposed to change. She'd honestly thought that it never would--until it had. Grams had moved in, and then her dad had met Kate, and then Alexis had gone off to college, and all the little things that had happened in between had added up... She called her father every night at least, texted him whenever the impulse seized her, and he always, always answered, but--he'd forgotten to tell her about the body in the pie, and he never did that. He was always gleeful, and she was always interested.

"I think these are the wrong color." Martha interrupted her thoughts by waving a cookie tray beneath her nose. "What do you think?"

"They do look a little crispy," Alexis agreed, trying not to let her distraction show.

"Hmm." Martha glanced down at what Alexis assumed was the recipe. "Maybe ten minutes would be better... So," she added, "tell me all about it."

"About what?" Alexis suddenly remembered the violin still hanging from her shoulder. "My lesson?"

"I thought you said it wasn't a lesson."

"It wasn't." Alexis shrugged. "I told Dylan I was in town again, and he thought it'd be great if we had a chance to catch up."

"Oh?" Martha raised an eyebrow in a way that made Alexis think she'd have been better off saying nothing at all, but she only followed with, "I meant college."

"It's all right, I guess." Alexis tried to smile again. "Physics is kicking my butt, but I do love it."

"Of course you do." Martha looked up from shaping a new batch of cookies long enough to smile and shake her head. "Though, I do wonder sometimes where you came from."

Her smile was real this time. "Dad likes to say the same thing."

"And your roommates?" Martha prodded.

"They know that Dad is an innovative thinker when it comes to hiding a body," Alexis said, laughing a little. "They don't give me any trouble. I like them, actually. Juliana can be kind of flaky sometimes, but... they're my friends."

Just for a moment, she thought of Paige. They hadn't spoken in awhile. Months, really, but their friendship had been cooling off for years now. Alexis sighed to herself. Another change.

"Something wrong, kiddo?"

"It's nothing, Grams." Alexis tucked a few stray hairs behind her ear, frowning. "It's just... not like it used to be."

"No," Martha said slowly. "I guess it isn't."

"It's not bad, either," Alexis said as she watched Grams slide the tray back into the oven. "It's just that sometimes I miss how things used to be."

"That's life, kid," Martha said, but she came around the counter to slide an arm around Alexis's shoulders. "You're not the only one having trouble adjusting."

"I missed you too, Grams."

Martha squeezed her shoulder. "I'm not the one who tried to replace you with a dog."

Her sudden burst of giggles surprised them both. "Dad always wanted one, and you have to admit, Charlie is pretty cute."

"I was never a dog person." Martha shook her head. "The walking. And the barking. And the... constant need for attention."

Perfect for their family, then, Alexis thought to herself.

"Maybe I'll take him for a walk later," she said. "With Dad. We haven't really had a chance to talk, just the two of us."

"An excellent idea." Martha released her as she glanced at the oven and frowned. "I don't suppose you noticed how long those have been in there?"

"Just a minute or two, I think," Alexis said. "You should try the timer, Grams."

Martha paused. "Timer?"

"It's in the drawer on the right, I think," she said.

It was, and that was reassuring somehow, to know that at least one thing hadn't changed in the few months she'd been gone.

She smiled again, knowing that however understandable it was to feel like she'd lost something, of course it wasn't the only thing that hadn't changed. As soon as her dad came home from his latest adventure, she intended to drag him out for a walk, and maybe after that they'd pull out the laser tag gear--because some things never changed.


End file.
